Janae Milner
Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.
Sarita Rafferty
There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.
sol-
Opening with a newspaper article on gay teen suicide, the tone of this early career Gregg Araki movie is set from early on as the film presents "15 random celluloid fragments" relating to the hardships of being young and homosexual in a predominantly heterosexual world. Araki's perpetual muse James Duval is solid as the closest the film has to a protagonist and some of the ideas that crop up (AIDS as a form of genocide) are decent, however, the film does not just consist of fragments, but is in fact completely fragmented as it jumps randomly between characters. None of this would be a problem if the characters were well fleshed out, but we barely get to know them outside of what they say in interviews. The supporting performances also vary from poor to adequate and the fact that all concerned mumble their lines is a poor aesthetic choice on Araki's behalf. 'Totally F***ed Up' is often cited as the first film in Araki's 'Teen Apocalypse Trilogy' alongside the vastly superior 'The Doom Generation' and 'Nowhere'. What makes both those films so remarkable is the way Araki weaves in fantastic and pseudo-scientific elements to symbolise the strangeness that the characters feel grappling with their sexuality. Both 'The Doom Generation' and 'Nowhere' are laced with semi-surreal comedic touches too. By comparison, 'Totally F***ed Up' is far more straightforward and serious-minded a tale. Evidently, this approach has appeal to some given the positive reputation that the film has built up over time, but suffice it so say, one's mileage will vary.
gradyharp
Tracing the progress of innovative filmmakers is a pleasure for movie buffs. Gregg Araki developed a unique voice in film in the early 1990s (this film dates back to 1993), a voice that maintained a sense of immediacy with his actors who he directed with his hand held camera in a manner that gave the illusion that the 'script' was extemporaneous. Careful not to assign controversial roles to inadequate talent, Araki gathered a group of young actors and pulled the very best from them. Many of these early actors still maintain presence in Araki's prolific flow of films.As is so often the case with Araki's stories, TOTALLY F***ED UP deals with gay sensibilities in a way that displays the entire spectrum of positive and negative response to his characters. He does not preach: he simply voyeuristically reveals lifestyles as though he were a hidden personage who just happened to fall into private moments and turbulent emotions. In this film Araki divides the examination of six teenage gay kids (four boys and two girls) into 15 dialogues, each representing an aspect of what faces his characters and how they cope with being on the fringe. The 15 episodes are related because the characters remain the same and it is this unique manner of making his story that has continued to be a trait of Araki's later, more linear films.We meet each of the six characters in an interview situation, with only the minimal amount dialogue conveying the maximum amount of information. The primary character is Andy (a superlative James Duval) whose view of life is bleak to say the least: Andy doesn't believe in love, in commitment, believes he is bisexual even though he has never stepped out of his same-sex playing out, grows to depend on his friends, falls in love with a sweet talking fellow Ian (Alan Boyce) only to discover Ian is not at all monogamous, and finally feels the pain of heartbreak and makes a decision about life that ends the film. The other characters include Michele (Susan Behshid) and Patricia (Jenee Gill) who are lesbian lovers and stable figures for the boys, desiring to have children and a wholesome life without the need for male penetration!; Steven (Gilbert Luna) and Deric (Lance May) who are coupled but come apart when Steven has an affair and Deric is gay-bashed; and Tommy (Roko Belic), the one who falls in love too easily with every one night stand he has.The episodes deal with the characters' sexual attitudes, AIDS, life on the streets, drugs, parental alienation, loneliness, abuse, suicide, and the desperate need for extended family. With Araki's technique we come to care strongly for each of these disparate kids: by the end of the film they feel like close personal friends of ours.The filming technique is choppy and slips out of focus and seems to idle like a malfunctioning engine at times, but in Araki's sensitive hands these aspects add to the tension of the story. Clearly Gregg Araki is a gifted artist, and his films subsequent to this successful one serve to prove his growth and increased power of heart to heart communication. Highly recommended. Grady Harp
zepherdog
I thought the movie, "Totally F***ed UP," was a rather good movie. The movie attempts to look at the lives of some troubled gay teens and how they attempt to deal with the complexity and pressures of homosexuality in advent of the approaching new millennium. The interviewing style of the movie was a different approach to viewing a teen movies compared to the main stream movies formulas, but I found the movie entertaining in spite of the narration, and at times, it was very funny. If you ever really been around the teens of today, they do act and talk like these teens. All teens have problems trying to adjust and assimilate into adult life. Having the added pressure of being gay, makes their lives even more complex. I could identify with some of the characters and some of their actions and reactions and their problems trying to become independent, gay adults. I first saw this movie on the Independent Film Channel of cable and eventually I bought my own DVD copy, but I'd like to see more movies like this and more from the writer and director, Gregg Araki. Who knows, eventually these movies will be in main stream too and not just presented only on the Independent Film Network.
buyjesus
with obvious allusions to vivre sa vie (the film is divided into 14 seemingly randomly segregate segments), gregg araki takes a journey into the lives of a group of gay teens in LA (not ALL gay teens, just a group). Well, maybe journey is the wrong word for it. Those familiar with Araki's other works are aware that they are loud, colorful, bombastic, and over-exentuated. They are also very MOBILE, in that a lot happens in the stories (usually someone gets killed, they run from johnny law, etc.). Totally F**ked up is not a mobile film. It doesn't go anywhere. Araki seems to proscribe in this film to the philosophy ( a Rossellini/ Godard staple) that life is less about actions or even interactions than boredom and other people's stories. James Duval plays a teen who broods in self-antipathy, spouting off despeate (and often pathetic) catch phrases like "life is sh**." or "love does not exist." But the underlying notion is that he really has lost faith and all hope, and as much as it ills him to become a statistic he keeps creeping that way, unable to find an outlet to truly express his real dismays.Araki's trademark self-coined slang and gother-than-thou art references are still in tact as we view this period of life that is less transitional emotionally than just a shift of behaviors- as we all act like babies. maybe it's just making up excuses - a character being lured into cheating because of a bootleg nine inch nails video- or maybe it's just talking in goofy language and popping pills in abandonned garages to watch each other fall over.as for the film's "crappy" look, I could either chock it up to lack of funds or intentional grainy filming. After all, every single one of his films are laced with characters using intentionally awful dialogue and intentionally bad acting to disguise its actual intentions. it makes since that he could do this visually too. And with the interspersed interviews with steven's video camera- it could easily be construed as the actual camera eye of the group, a 7th member if you will. either way, it didn't distract me.People who enjoyed Araki's other films because of the pretty colors and big loud noises need not apply themselves to this film, because it does take patience. but the result is a rewarding experience.
